Agitator for washing machines



- March 9, 193 7. 1 T. H. TITTLE 2,073,540

I AGITATOR FOR WASHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 25, 1935 2/5 A 7' TURNE 1 Patented Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I r 2,013,540 acrrn'ron FOB WASHING momma Theodore H. Tittle, Springfield, omo Application January 25, me, sol-m No. cam lClaim. (01. 259-5101 This invention relates to an agitator for a clothes washing machine and more particularly to an agitator of the gyrator type.

One object of the invention is to provide an 5 agitator of this type which will so act on' the clothes and the water as to'cause the clothes to be maintained in a more separated and extended condition than is the case with the usual agitator, thus permitting a better circulation of the water 10 through the fabric, to cleanse the same, and preventing the clothes from becoming tangled.-

A further object of the invention-is to provide such an agitator which will cause the water to circulate simultaneously in two or more directions Other objects of the invention may appear as.

the agitator is described in detail.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. l is a plan 25 view of a washing machine equipped with my improved agitator, and partly broken away; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of one side of a washing machine showing a portion of the agitator in elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow a 30 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a similar view showing a portion of the agitator in elevation, looking in the direction of the arrow b in Fig. 1.

In this drawing, I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the same 5 as mounted in a tub 5 of a known construction, the bottom of the tub having a central portion 6 slightly elevated. The agitator comprises a base i, which is preferably circular in form, and a standard 8 extends upwardly from the center of 40 this base to a point near the top of the tub. The lower portion of the standard is flared, as shown at 9, and merges into the base I some distance from the peripheral edge of the base, so that the outer circumferential portion of the base has a 45 substantially flat upper surface. The standard and its base, which may conveniently be formed in one piece, as by casting, may be mounted in the tub for oscillatory movement about the vertical axis of the. standard in any suitable manner and as here shown a shaft i0 extends through the bottom of the tub and through the standard and is rigidly connected with the standard near the upper end of the latter, so that the shaft and standard will move in unison. The shaft 55 may be oscillated in the usual or any suitable manner and in the-present instance it is pro- I vided below the bottom of the tub with a gear H by which it may be connected with suitable operating mechanism. I

Vertical blades l2 and II are arranged on opposite sides of the standard 8 and have their inner .and lower edges shaped to conform to the con-- tour of the standard and base, the inner edges of the blades being rigidly secured to the stand-. ard and the lower edges being rigidly secured to 10 the base. Preferably the blades are formed integral with the standard and base. Each blade has a lower portion of such width that the blade terminates adjacent .to the outer edge of the base, and. the blade here shown has the lower portion of its outer edge curved outwardly at a point-just above the base, as shown at ll, so as to SUI slightly beyond the edge of the base. The upper portion of the blade is of a width substantially less than the width of, the lower portion thereof and the outer edge, ii, of this upper portion is also curved outwardly and is arranged in a vertical line spaced inwardly a substantial distance from the edge of the base. Thus the blade gradually decreases in width from its lower portion towards the upper end thereof, and preferably the intermediate portion IQ of the outer edge of the blade has a slight inward curvature. The wide lower portion of the blade is curved about a vertical axis and preferably the curvature ex- 0 tends substantially to the upper end of the blade but is described on a relatively long radius so that the narrow upper portion of the blade will have'very little curvature. Thus each blade is provided in one side thereof with a recess which extends vertically for substantially the full length thereof but decreases in depth as it approaches the-upper end of the blade.

' same. Due to the shape of the blades, another v portion of the water will be caused to move up wardly adjacent to the standard and then outwardly. The currents of water thus created, flowing in different directions, tend to spread out the articles in the tub and to separate the same so as to facilitate the passage of the water through the fabric. It will be understood that the cleansing of the fabric is, to a large extent, effected by the passage of the water through the interstices in the fabric, and the more extended the fabric the more open the interstices, thus permitting a greater flow of water through the same. Further, this spreading out and separating of the articles prevents the same from becoming tangled or twisted. When the blades move in the opposite, or rearward, direction the water will be caused to circulate in the other direction about the axis of the agitator and portions of the same will be thrown outwardly toward the wall of the tub. The curved rear surfaces .of the blades will cause the clothes, or other articles, to move outwardly toward the wall of the tub and thus permit the blades to move rearwardly .past the clothes, the flow of the water carrying the clothes, or a portion of them, towards the center of the tub after the blades had passed the same. Thus the successive forward movements of the agitator move the clothes in one direction and the rearward movements of the agitator impart little or no rearward movement to the clothes. The blades, of course, contact a portion of the clothes during the movement of the agitator and to permit the passage of the water through the articles which are in contact with the blades, the latter may, if desired, be provided with a plurality of perforations, or apertures, ll spaced over a relatively large portion of its area.

The agitator will operate satisfactorily with the two blades, 12 and I3 only, but in order to secure an additional agitation of the water other blades may be provided if desired. The particular agitator here illustrated is provided on opposite sides of the standard 8 with blades ll arranged between the blades l2 and II. These blades I. are substantially L-shaped and are relatively narrow. The upper portions of these blades extend vertically along the standard and are rigidly secured thereto, as by\forming the same integral therewith, and the lower outwardly extending portions of the blades are secured to the base and the rounded ends IS'thereof project slightly beyond the peripheral edge of the base.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An oscillatory agitator for a washing machine comprising a base, a standard extending upwardly from said base, and substantially vertical blades arranged on opposite sides of said standard, said standard having its lower portion flared and merging into said base, each of said blades having its inner and lower edges shaped to conform to the contour of said standard and said base and secured thereto, and having a lower portion of such width that the outer edge thereof is adjacent to the edge of said base, and having a relatively upper narrow portion, each of said blades being curved about a substantially vertical axis, and other substantially vertical blades arranged on opposite sides of said standard between the first mentioned blades and having relatively narrow upper portions secured to said standard and laterally extending portions secured to said base and terminating near the outer edge thereof,

THEODORE H. TI'I'ILE. 

